The National Herbarium

Our Mission

• to research and document the diversity and relationships within the southern African flora
• to disseminate information for the benefit of humankind and thereby
• to be the world's leading centre of expertise on the southern African flora

The National Herbarium, situated within the Pretoria National Botanical Garden, houses the largest collection of plant specimens in southern Africa with over one million specimens.

The National Herbarium

• Is a collection of plants which are dried, pressed, mounted on cardboard sheets, and labelled for scientific study. Important information about the plant (place and date of collecting, scientific name, collector's name, etc.) is included with the herbarium specimen
• Is the largest herbarium in Africa and the fourth largest in the southern hemisphere
• Boasts of a collection of more than a million plant specimens
• Connects to a wide network of herbaria and botanical gardens in South Africa and wider
• Is supported by research facilities and research staff
• Maintains the largest computerised botanical database, PRECIS, in Africa
• Houses the Mary Gunn Library, which is the largest botanical library in Africa
• Has a specimen exchange programme with numerous institutions abroad
• Undertakes plant collection as part of the National Plant Collection Programme, with the aim of having a plant collection which represents the flora of the country as accurately as possible

What do we do?

• Collect plants to fill the gaps in distribution data of southern African plants
• Identify and name plants with scientific names
• Study relationships between plants and publish taxonomic reviews
• Name plants that are new to science and describe new species
• Produce plant information to help managers, conservationists, government and the public to make decisions